Vibrator



Patented June 20, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VIBRATOR James L. Zadek, Oak Park, 111.

Application June 21, 1948, Serial No. 34,303

4 Claims. (01. 128-46) This invention relates to vibrator or the like, more particularly of the portable type and for physiotherapy purposes.

The invention aims to provide a simple and improved device of this character, of relatively small size so that it may be easily handled by the user and which will at the same time deliver markedly enhanced massagic effects with ease of operation, safety, and enhanced beneficial results.

An important aspect of the invention is the provision of a novel pitman-like element or pommel which delivers the massagic effects and which has unique combined reciprocatory and oscillatory motion and preferably a pair of such elements in adjacent parallel planes, hence having both a kneading and rubbing action at high speed upon the muscles and tissues of the body to which the device is applied.

These and other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, taken together with the accompanying drawings, of an illustrative embodiment of the invention, and in which drawings Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a complete device embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the gear casing and pitman with cover plate shown in Fig. 1 removed to show the full length of the pitman and being a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the scale of Fig. 2 and being a section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2 with the cover plate restored; and

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view showing positions of the pitman in its cycle of movement.

Referring in detail to the illustrative construction shown in the drawings, the numeral I I indicates a housing for a motor (not shown) of the small portable type readily available on the market for electrically operated hand tools or other appliances, and in this case the housing I I desirably has a pistol-form grip or handle I2. The conductor cord I3, a portion of which only is here shown leading into the handle I2 for connection within the housing with the motor, may have its other end, which is not shown, plugged into the usual wall or other electric outlet as desired. A switch lever I4 accessible on the exterior of the housing II is convenient .for actuation by the thumb of the user while holding the device by its hand grip I2.

In accordance with the present invention, the armature shaft I5 of the motor within the housing I I is extended into a gear casing indicated in general by numeral I6, which is carried by the housing II. For this purpose the sleeve extension I! of the housing II in which the armature shaft rotates is somewhat reduced and exteriorly threaded at its extremity to be threadedly received in the interiorly threaded bore, as at I8, of a centralizing collar I9 which in turn has an enlargement 20 which is exteriorly threaded to be threadedly received in the interiorly threaded throat of the casing I6, as at 2|. The shaft sleeve Il may carry the usual inner sleeve element 22 of, say, a material minimizing friction.

Further in accordance with the present invention, the extremity of the driving shaft I5 is slightly reduced and exteriorly screw-threaded to be threadedly received as at 23 in the interiorly threaded bore of a relatively large driving gear 24. The screw-threads at 23 are desirably such that they are tightened by the direction of rotation of the shaft I5, and the collar I9 is recessed on its inner face within the casing as at 25 to accommodate and provide room for the driving gear 24 and free rotation thereof with the shaft I5.

Still further in accordance with the present invention, and as best seen in Fig. 3, the driving gear 24 as here shown is of the bevel type and simultaneously engages at each side of the casing I6 another smaller driven gear, also of the bevel type, as shown. These driven gears are indicated by the numeral 26 and are conveniently mounted on a common arbor 21 for free rotation thereon under the influence of the driving gear 24 and they will, of course, be driven in opposite directions on the arbor 21. The driving gear 24 has desirably twice as many teeth 28 as the number of teeth 29 on each of the driven gears 26, so that the speed of the latter will be twice that of the motor shaft.

The gears 26 each rotate in anti-friction bushings 30 of, say, bronze, and these gears each have hubs 3| which are extended to the side faces of the casing respectively and there have thereon crank pins or eccentric projections 32. These projections are desirably staggered so as to be on opposite sides of the common axis of the driven gears 26.

Turning now to Fig. 2, as best seen therein, and following the present invention, the easing faces 33 each have a guideway therein 'which is circularly enlarged as at 34 about the eccentric projections 32 on a center 35 which is concentric with the axis of the gears 26 and to which the eccentric projections or crank pins 32 are each eccentric and into which guideways the crank pins extend. Adjacent the distal end of 3 the casing the guideway is reduced as at 36 to form a restricted slot, which slot desirably has on each side thereof hardened wards 31, which are cylindrical inserts set into the face of the casing and having somewhat linear edges 38 which project slightly into the slot 36 beyond the edges thereof for a purpose presently pointed out.

Still further in accordance with the present invention, the guideways 34-36 receive for play therein a pair of pommels indicated generally by the numeral 39. Each of these pommels includes a pitman-like element 40 having in this instance a wrist plate 4| of somewhat circular formation centrally apertured to receive the crank pin 32 with a rotative fit. The wrist plate 41 has a shank 42 that passes through the slot 36 and beyond the distal end of the casing transversely is enlarged in a head or outer end 43 to carry a buffer pad 44 of rubber or the like, rivets 45 or other suitable attaching means securing the pads thereto.

Each of the pitmans 40 by reason of the restricted outlet for the shank thereof has a combined reciprocatory and oscillatory motion under the influence of the crank pins 32. The oscillatory or rocking pivotal motion is due to the fact that the slots 36 and specifically the Wards 31, cant the pitman when the eccentric is on either side of the center line of the slot, while the reciprocatin motion is due to the fluctuating position of the eccentric along the guideway center line. The pitmans have desirably opposite positions at all times in the cycles by reason of the opposed locations or staggering of the crankpins on opposite side of the common axis of the driven gears 26. The wards 31 act as fulcrums for canting the pitman, and thus direct sliding and pivotal movement of the pitman. The expedients just described are illustrative of means carried jointly by the casing and pitman for causing this characteristic pitman movement.

To retain the pitmans 40 in position in their guideways, each side face of the casing [6 carries a cover plate 46 secured to the casing as by screws 41 which are spaced about the guideways so as not to interfere therewith and with the operation of the pitmans. The plates 46 also desirably cover a set-screw 48 which holds the collar I9 in position against accidental unscrewing. Another set-screw 49 may hold the collar and shaft sleeve ll similarly together.

There may be an oil duct 50 in the shaft sleeve l1 and a set-screw on the face 52 of the easing I6 between the pommels 39 that may be removed for introducing a heavier lubricant into the gear chamber 53 for the gears 24 and 26. As indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 4, the line 54 which represents the longitudinal center line of a pitman 40 has a vibratory motion as a result of the combined reciprocatory and oscillatory motions of the pitman, so that the outer end or pitman head indicated diagrammatically at 55 describes a somewhat circulatory or elliptical path as indicated at 56. This path 55, it will be understood, is in the plane of the pitman and which is here the plane of the drawing.

So constructed and arranged the pommels 39 by reason of their vibratory motion in the manner heretofore described are markedly effective in stimulating circulation of the blood to the body parts to which they are applied and enhanced toning effect upon the muscles and tissues. To facilitate this result the pommel pads 44 are extended in convexly arcuate surfaces 51 which move in parallel planes that are the planes of the pitmans 40 and the result is further enhanced by the opposed direction of movement of these surfaces as described and by the high speed of operation thereof due to the gearing arrangement illustrated. A central point on each pommel pad, for example, will describe a path somewhat as at 56 (Fig. 4) thus delivering a somewhat combined pommeling or kneading and rubbing action which is highly beneficial.

The pommels arranged in parallel planes as shown are particularly effective for spinal massage, since the spaced apart members span the ridge of the spine to reach the nerves on each side thereof.

The invention is not intended to be limited to the details of construction shown for purposes of illustration and such changes may be made as fall within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the invention.

The invention having been described, what is here claimed is:

1. A portable vibrator device, comprising, in combination, a casing, a rotatable driving shaft received in the casing, a bevel driving gear fixed on said shaft, an arbor transverse to the driving shaft, a pair of driven bevel gears freely mounted on said arbor at opposite ends thereof in mesh with said driving gear, an eccentric on the face of each driven gear, a pitman driven by each eccentric, the pitmans being arranged in parallel planes, the casing being slotted at each side thereof and a pitman extending through each of said slots, the sides of the slot being closely adjacent the pitman for directing a sliding and rocking movement of the pitman in its plane under the influence of rotation of its respective eccentric, said eccentrics being diametrically oppositely disposed on said driven gears respectively to cause alternating movements of the pitmans, a buffer pad secured on the outer end of each pitman, whereby the bufier pads are adapted to have a pommeling and rubbing action, a motor housing, said casing being carried at one end of said housing and the housing operatively receiving the driving shaft, and a pistol-grip handle on the other end of said housing aligned with the shaft.

2. In a vibrator device, in combination, a rotatable shaft, a driving gear fixed on said shaft, a pair of driven gears in mesh with said driving gear on an axis at right angles to the axis of the driving gear, an eccentric on the face of each driven gear, a pitman connected to each eccentric, said pitmans being arranged in parallel planes, a casing for said gears and pitmans, the casing having parallel slots through which the pitmans extend respectively and the outer ends of the pitmans projecting from said casing through said slots, the slot sides being closely adjacent the pitmans respectively for directing sliding and rocking movement of each pitman .under the influence of rotation of its eccentric,

said eccentrics being diametrically oppositely disposed on said driven gears respectively to cause alternating movements of the pitmans, whereby the pitmans are adapted to have both oscillatory and reciprocatory movement in adjacent parallel planes, and means for rotating said shaft.

3. In a vibrator device, in combination, a casing, a pair of eccentrics carried by the casing and rotatable in parallel planes, a pitman connected to each eccentric and arranged to move in the plane of rotation of its eccentric whereby the pitmans also move in parallel planes, a pair of fulcrums on each side of the casing in each of said planes, each of said pitmans extending between its complementary fulcrums, and means carried by the casing for rotating the eccentrics, each of said pairs of fulcrums directing sliding and rocking movement of its respective pitman under the influence of rotation of its respective eccentric.

4. In a vibrator, in combination, a casing, a rotatable shaft received in the casing, an eccentrio within the casing and driven by said shaft, a pitman connected to said eccentric and extending in the plane of movement of the eccentric, a guideway for the pitman in the casing having a slot portion, the outer end of the pitman projecting through the slot portion, a ward in each side of said slot closely adjacent said pitman and providing a fulcrum for directing reciprocatory sliding and rocking pivotal movement of the pitman under the influence of rotation of the eccentric, the outer end of the pitman being adapted to move in an elliptical path in the plane of move- 8 ment of the pitman, a pad on the outer end of the pitman convexly enlarged in the direction of the plane of movement of the pitman, and a motor carried by the casing for driving said shaft, whereby the pad has a pommeling and rubbing action.

JAMES L. ZADEK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 912,016 Miller Feb. 9, 1909 1,888,510 Mashek Nov. 22, 1932 1,931,849 Matson Oct. 24, 1933 2,095,956 Bess Oct. 19, 1937 2,188,938 Brown Feb. 6, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 221,983 Great Britain Sept. 25, 1924 

